Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
The jury was selected Jan. 18 and began hearing testimony Jan. 19 in the trial that had sought as much as $500 million in wrongful death damages on behalf of the family of Ricardo Garza. The jury deliberated for about seven hours before returning its verdict.
The state’s high court, minus three justices who recused themselves from the case, heard oral arguments Tuesday in a case that’s being closely watched by the insurance industry, economic and trial lawyer interest groups and law professors. The case presents the court with an opportunity to clarify the proper standard of review for noneconomic damages awards.
The Texas Supreme Court is considering an opposed motion to hit pause on a whistleblower lawsuit brought by three former top aides to Attorney General Ken Paxton against the Texas AG, accusing him of firing them in retaliation for reporting to the FBI and Texas Rangers that they believed he abused the power of his office to benefit a campaign donor. One of the four whistleblowers isn’t involved in settlement negotiations and wants the lawsuit to proceed now.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a bankruptcy judge in Houston approves a $52 million insurance settlement for victims of factory explosion, the Texas Supreme Court adds several cases to its oral argument calendar and a Jackson Walker nets a win against the Federal Aviation Administration.
Currently, judges and justices in Texas are required by the state’s constitution to retire at age 75 in most instances. A legislator from Angleton has authored a resolution that would give voters an opportunity to amend the constitution and do away with that requirement.
Sean Gorman, Chris Dodson and Andrew Zeve are joining a team of about 90 attorneys in White & Case’s Houston office after tenures at Bracewell that included leading the firm’s $1.6 billion win for BMC against IBM.
Allied Aviation and Ulysses Cruz filed a brief this week with the First Court of Appeals in Houston explaining they are close to finalizing a mediated settlement in the personal injury lawsuit and seeking an abatement of the appeal.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Fluor beats back class action lawsuit brought by retirement plan participants, a jury in Houston finds there was no infringement of a patent covering a tool used in oil and gas drilling and the Fifth Circuit revives a proposed class action against Six Flags.
Opening statements came Thursday morning in a trial that’s expected to last three weeks and seeks to hold Bobcat of Houston and its parent company responsible for the incident that killed Ricardo Garza in October 2017. Plaintiff’s lawyer Chrysta Castañeda told jurors the family’s patriarch had been “flayed alive” by a piece of forestry equipment.
Texas trial lawyers Mike Slack and Ladd Sanger are among an elite tier of attorneys who are experts in aviation law and whose work has made commercial and private aviation safer for the masses. They recently sat down with The Texas Lawbook to discuss their career paths and what keeps them going.
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